Single Event Effects (SEE) are disturbances in an active semiconductor device caused by a single energetic particle. One type of SEE is a single event upset (SEU). SEU is a radiation-induced error in a semiconductor device caused when charged particles lose energy by ionizing the medium through which they pass, leaving behind a wake of electron-hole pairs. The electron-hole pairs form a parasitic conduction path, which can cause a false transition on a node. The false transition, or glitch, can propagate through the semiconductor device and may ultimately result in the disturbance of a node containing state information, such as an output of a latch, register, or gate. One type of SEU is a single event transient (SET). SETs occur when a particle strikes a sensitive node within a circuit.
Typically, SEUs are caused by ionizing radiation components in the atmosphere, such as neutrons, protons, and heavy ions. The ionizing radiation components are abundant in space and also at commercial flight altitudes. Additionally, SEUs can be caused by alpha particles from the decay of trace concentrations of uranium and thorium present in some integrated circuit packaging. As another example, SEUs may be caused by detonating nuclear weapons. When a nuclear weapon is detonated, intense fluxes of gamma rays, x-rays, and other high energy particles are created.
Some semiconductor devices are designed to operate in conditions that expose the devices to energetic particles. These devices are typically modified to be hardened against SEE. Many hardened circuit designs are directed towards hardening digital circuits. For example, triple mode redundancy voting is one known method for hardening digital circuits. Some analog circuits may also operate in conditions that expose the circuit to energetic particles. These analog circuits also need to be hardened against SEE.
Therefore, it would be beneficial to harden an analog signal against SEE to prevent errors from propagating through analog circuits.